German engineers need software to head off technology firms

By Ludwig Burger FRANKFURT (Reuters) - If customers of Germany's Harting Group, a maker of industrial plugs and sockets, want bespoke products, they can buy them -- if they're prepared to assemble them from a kit themselves. Volker Franke, the head of Harting's assembly systems and machine tools business, is working hard to change that. Harting is one of a growing number of German firms investing in software, fearing their excellence in mechanical precision and reliability -- the